Books From the Last Five Weeks

The List of Books I read since my last post on 7/7 is as follows:

Dark Descendant by Jenna Black
( http://www.jennablack.com/ )
Grave Witch, An Alex Craft Novel
Grave Dance, An Alex Craft Novel by Kalayna Price
( http://www.kalayna.com/ )
Frostfire, A Novel of the Kyndred by Lynn Viehl
( http://pbackwriter.blogspot.com/ )
Vicious Circle
Hallowed Circle by Linda Robertson
( http://www.authorlindarobertson.com/ )
Secondhand Spirits by Juliet Blackwell
( http://julietblackwell.net/ )
Dragon Wytch
Night Huntress
Demon Mistress by Yasmine Galenorn
( http://www.galenorn.com/ )

Since I am currently in the middle of reading “Demon Mistress” I think I will wait until I finish it to do a book review so I can do one on a book fresh in my mind. If you want me to review a specific book from the list please comment and I’d love to do one for you!

I used to buy clothing, like most women I’d imagine, and then it was expensive make up. Many people (probably women) will be nodding along with me when I say I could easily drop 50 to 100 dollars on make up or shoes at any given time (except for my mother, for some reason she’s immune to spending money I’m so jealous I have no idea why I’m so bad at keeping money I wish I could be more like her), but now it’s mostly just books I spend my money on. I have to admit I do cheat a little, with my fiancé footing most of the bill for rent, groceries, and other things I tend to go a little crazy with books. Unfortunately that isn’t very fair . . . but I think that is why I am at the moment indulging so heavily in book buying.

I try to be careful and at times I am very good at not spending money and every day I get better at saying no. Hopefully it’s before the books have taken over the entire house!! Anyway, on to the books that I have read this week and my choice of review!!

Book’s Read:

The Planet Pirates by Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Moon, and Jody Lynne Nye
(A Omnibus of three books titled Sassinak, The Death of Sleep, and The Generation Warriors)

Stormwalker
Firewalker
Shadowwalker by Allyson James
(http://www.allysonjames.com/)
(http://www.jenniferonwriting.blogspot.com/)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

I’ll review the three books by Allyson James because she is probably the least known author of the books I read. The books are about a woman named Janet who is a Stormwalker. She is a Navajo woman whose mother is an evil Goddess from the realm beneath. Filled with interesting characters and of course a steamy dragon boyfriend the action is thought out and the dialogue is crisp and unpredictable. I really enjoyed how tough the main character was and how she wasn’t some wishy-washy woman who let people walk all over her. I also enjoyed that she was a woman who had one man she loved and she didn’t stray from him, no matter how frustrating he became. If you like the supernatural and some kick-butt action from a no nonsense woman that I really think you should read these books!

I did manage to finish Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling, I had finished all but the last four chapters at the midnight showing of the movie (same as the book) and was forced to close the book when the previews started and I just never got back to it until now. I am working steadily on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows before my Fiance and I head to the two day Harry Potter movie marathon leading up to the midnight showing. It’s amazing I used to pick up these books the day they came out and sit down to read them in about six hours straight (no breaks). Now I just can’t find the time to sit down for six hours and read a book.

So, my update is…I am in the middle of the last Harry Potter book. I don’t think I’ll do my usual summary because I am sure most of the people who read this have read the books. But since I am reading the last book I will ask a question, and I don’t mind spoilers since I know everything that happened. What do people think of the way Harry’s character has developed over the course of the books? Do you think he should have been more powerful? Or more learned? He seems kind of a guy who really has been coasting off of luck and his heritage. Don’t you think he should have been given more powerful magic? Or do you think that is why he is better than Voldemort, because his power is love??

Well once I finish the last book I’ll work on some different books to put up here. Hope everyone has a great 4th of July!! See you all at the midnight showing of Harry Potter!!!

After reading this book I would recommend people reading Robin McKinley’s other books, starting with the Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown (in that order). If you want to see some of the other books she has written go t her website (http://www.robinmckinley.com/ ).

Like I said I would in the last post I went to see Mr. Popper’s Penguin’s (The Movie) and I have to say before I went there were HORRIBLE reviews about it. I even had someone tell me the refused to go to it because they saw the trailers and the movie had just ruined the story. Now, I am not the kind of person who listens to movie reviewers and I take a movie based on a book as a separate entity entirely. Because of this I tend to enjoy movies more than someone who can’t do those things. I took my Fiance with me, who had never read the book, and we laughed all the way through it! It wasn’t anything like the book, so if you are a purist I wouldn’t recommend you seeing it, the only similarity was the name and the fact that a man had penguins in his house. But if you want to see a funny and cute movie then I would recommend seeing this movie.

Next books on my list to read? The last two Harry Potter books.

After a one-week class to finish up my measly three credits I needed to get my degree I will be full of free time when I am not working. With plans for the wedding going along with only minor bumps in the road I really don’t have much to fill my free time that isn’t cleaning or maintaining my connection with my Future Hubby! So, I decided it was time to continue my love of reading and actually read a book for pleasure, (concept I know!). Since I am actually in the middle of my one-week class I have only read a little book so far but I have big plans! I want to read as many books as I can a week, not a problem for me, but every week I will pick one of the books I read and write a review on it. I think I will also include a list of the other books I read just in case anyone else is interested.

My first book I read for this project I am starting was Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater. This book was first published in 1938 and was a Newberry Award Winner in 1939. I read this book for the first time in Middle School, probably sixth grade, of my own volition and what I remembered most about this book was the original red book cover and the main character owned penguins. The reason I chose this book to re-read was because of the upcoming release of the movie being made of the book.

Mr. Popper’s Penguins (http://www.popperspenguins.com) with Jim Carrey, Angela Lansburry, and Carla Gugino is going to be released June 17th and I fully plan on attending. The only problem I can foresee is someone going to see this movie with a hope that it will reflect the book in a concrete way. From what I can see from the trailer’s and synopsis on IMDB.com is that a business man (in the book he is a painter) inherits a pack of penguins (in the book he is sent one penguin from a famous Arctic Explorer). The good thing is a. I am a fan of Jim Carrey and b. I am one of those few people who can watch a movie based on a book and separate the book from the movie so I can just enjoy the movie for what it is instead of comparing them.

Back to the book, if you have not read this book I will tell you a little summary so that you can get an idea of what a wonderful story this is. Mr. Popper is a painter and house decorator living in the 1930’s. He is a big dreamer and very absent minded, he would rather be off exploring the Arctic, the South Pole, and the North Pole. While at home he pours over books and articles about Arctic history, geology, geography, etc. When new movies about the Arctic come out he is the first in line to see the movie and he could be considered a resident expert on the subject of the Poles and the Arctic. Mr. Popper’s family is very poor and during the winter he does not work, instead he gets to stay at home and study his books and daydream.

Mr. Popper and his family’s life change after an Arctic Explorer named Admiral Drake responds to Mr. Popper’s letter by air mailing him a penguin. This penguin changes the Popper’s life majorly and leads them on many adventures, which lead them to radically changing their lives.

I enjoyed reading this book again, it is a very quick read and doesn’t make you think too deeply if you just want a easy book to read. I really think if you have not read the book that you should definitely read it before you think about going to see the Movie. Even if the movie is different than the book I am a real advocate for reading the books movies are based on just so you know where the idea came from. And come on, a man with penguin’s living in his basement?? The best thing ever.

But on more pleasant news, we found a pattern for my dress, we are making me two dresses because the F and I are getting married legally in April and then having our big family wedding in August. They are both going to be long and both sleeveless but that is where the similarities stop. I got the bridesmaids to agree on a dress and even though I told them they didn’t have to match they picked the exact same dress for all of them. So, matching it is! We are also making the bridesmaids dresses so that will be a big fun party of sewing and talking, hopefully it all goes smoothly. We have time.

Brett and I had our engagement photos taken, some of them were not what I expected and I think our photographer doesn’t really know how to take pictures of bigger girls (I have a belly and am not a size 2!). But for the most part I love the pictures.

We also picked a location for our wedding, Belknap Hotsprings in Mckenzie Bridge, Oregon. It is a beautiful area. I just have to never talk to their wedding coordinatior because I will murder her. The woman has no people skills, my mother promised she’d deal with her lol. We have an idea on the theme and also and idea on who we want to lead the ceremoney. A friend is going to be our wedding coordinatior for the day so no one in my family or me has to worry about setting things up and making things work. I also got the Save the Dates made and once I get them all I have to do is translate them into Japanese and I’ll send them out!

With ideas for my invitations in mind and also ideas for flowers and reception I think I’ve done a lot of planning so far!

Did anyone wish they hadn’t picked the photographer they did? I keep wishing I had picked someone else, even though we signed the contract already. I just hope I don’t regret it because pictures are the most important part for me but because of budget I felt rushed and pressured to pick someone we could afford and stop being so picky. All of the photographers I wanted were waaaay to expensive for our budget. Hopefully it all works out.

My mother says i should just have my wedding where I want with her and the Fiance’s parents in the Redwoods and have a big party close to home after. But for some reason I don’t want to do that, I want my big wedding with lots of people, big foofy white dress, cake, and flowers and THE LOCATION I CHOOSE. I guess you can’t be choosy if you want guests.

On another note, I still don’t have a job that is regularly paying the bills. I have started selling Mary Kay products and so far I like doing it but I find it’s hard to find regular customers and people who want to have parties. So, I keep trying and hopefully I’ll make it some day. Everything was easier in Japan when I had things being paid for by other people.

While I was in Japan if I had to go to the bathroom in public and the restroom did not have a western style toilet I learned to hold it. If I was desperate I could make it work but believe me I tried to wait as long as I could. And sometimes there are just clothes that you are wearing that do not work with trying to squat and go, usually I just waited until we got home.

I didn’t mind the bathrooms not having paper towels or hand dryers, it was easy to carry a little hand towel around like all the other people in Japan. The bathroom slippers in hotels and ryokan’s as well as houses had no bother for me either. No, the only thing that just baffled and bothered me to no end was trying to figure out how to use those darn Japanese style toilets safely.

I’m just glad the trains are starting to have western style toilets in them now, it’s hard to squat and go when the train is swaying and jerking to sudden stops.

This adventure was very precious to me and I never could have done it without Nozomi and her family as well as all the homestays and friends I made/had during my stay. I don’t know what I will do with myself now that I am home but I do know I will be back soon!

Now, to figure out what to do with my blog now that I’m home…. lol.

The next day (10/15) I got up and went with Nozomi to take Katsu to kindergarten and we met up with the mother of one of Katsu’s friends, Doumeki san, and went with her to her house to learn how to fold origami tops. She lives in a temple named Souotsuji, in Temple Machi, which I mentioned earlier in the post when I stayed with the Yamato family. The interesting she told us about her temple and the other temples in Joetsu is that her temple is a Zen Buddhist temple but most of the other temples in Joetsu are Pure Land Buddhist temples. So her temples is kind of rare and her temple is a satellite temple of the large temple near Kasugayama called Rinsenji. She taught us how to fold paper tops that spun really well, you use three pieces of origami to make them and they were not that to hard to make so I really enjoyed it. Then, her husband who is the priest of the temple taught us how to do Zen meditation. But just a short version, because we had to leave shortly after we finished meditating. I had to go to school and watch a concert with the kids at my school and Toshi.

The concert was a famous singer in Russia, I don’t really remember the details but they found out that Toshi went to Russia and his classes send cards to Russian people on Christmas for a pen pal like thing. The singer was accompanied by her pianist, who’s daughter is studying Japanese in college. They were both really good, singing and playing the piano, the pianist also played the accordian as well. They were a hoot, walking through the crowd of kids sitting in the audience as well as looking at the boys and making them really blush! When the concert finished they had all the students sing their school song for the Russian singers before they left and then the fun really began. They checked the length of the girls skirts because a person in the school department had made a comment about the skirts on girls in Joetsu schools were the shortest in Niigata. So, the school is determined to fix this and they checked each skirt and gave them a talk about how their skirts needed to be a certain length and they needed to think about the image they show to the rest of Japan with their skirt lengths. Went in one ear and right out the other.

After that I walked to the station and called Nozomi and asked her if she could pick me up but she had to take Katsu to his music classroom so we decided that I’d shop around Takada and get on the later train after she finished with Katsu’s music lesson. I went to the 100 yen shop near the station for awhile and bought a few things for myself as well as presents. Nozomi called me a while later and told me that she forgot that Katsu’s music class was closed for the day so she could pick me up from the station. I got on the train and she picked me up and we all had dinner together that night.

The next day (10/16) I had class all day, don’t really remember what I did though.